There’s a truck with a natural wine bar inside parked up in Manchester city centre for the summer.
Run by a group of four friends determined to “take something that’s been on a pedestal for so long, and [kick] it the f*ck off”, this is no imposing wine store. Far from it.
This is a place where everyone is made to feel welcome, no matter how great (or small) their wine knowledge.
As the lads behind the concept tell us, “The bodega is here to defuse that wine stigma. If you want red wine with fish do it, if you want to eat a big mac with a glass of orange, get it.”
Inspired by their love of hip-hop icons like Action Bronson and the all-encompassing community culture of New York’s bodegas, Vin De Bodega has been running for just over a year.
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Image: The Manc Eats
After launching a popular online-only wine delivery service during lockdown, founders Rick Farthing, Jack ‘Gus’ Surplus, Eoghan Neburagho and Razz Ashraf began hosting pop-ups across the city at different venues.
Now, they’ve parked up a truck beneath Quay Street’s ABC Buildings for the summer – dishing out handpicked low-intervention goods every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 6pm.
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All four have other jobs, having first started the Bodega as a passion project in 2020.
Between them, they have a mixture of hospitality experience – Rick and Eoghan have done nearly a decade in the industry, whilst we hear that Raz and Jack “haven’t had the pleasure of putting an apron on and doing a 12-hour shift frot of house.”
Image: The Manc Eats
Still, they insist that having a team on both sides of the spectrum allows them to see things from different angles – and we’re inclined to agree. It’s no bad thing.
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They told The Manc: “We select the wine that speaks to us. Not just the taste, but where it comes from, how it’s made, and who it’s made by. Not every wine we choose will appeal to everyone, but we’re confident in our taste.
“Wine’s known for being expensive (like expensivem expensive), and that alone adds to this ‘elitist’ view.
“I guess, when it comes to the Bodega, we try our best to keep the products on our level, what we’d say about this juice that’d make it appeal to us, and our friend groups, and their friend group”
And on the subject of how New York has influenced their concept, they add:
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“We have all traveled out there and experienced the bodegas and how they operate, from the characters that pass through to the cheap meals that the block depends on. We just felt like Manchester and New York culture have a lot in common with each other.
“New York culture has always influenced us, from the music, the fashion and the food. But, the community culture of a bodega is like no other. It’s a neighbourhood institution where everybody is welcome, and that’s what we wanted the bodega to be.”
Adding that, for now, they’re not particularly fussed about launching a brick-and-mortar concept, they say that they’re on the lookout for more pop-up opportunities going forward – so watch this space.
You can find the Bodega truck at 21-23 Quay St, Manchester M3 4AE every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 6pm.
Feature image – The Manc Eats
News
Drama Call opening first-ever flagship shop in Manchester
Danny Jones
Streetwear superstars Drama Call are opening their new flagship store and first-ever permanent site in Manchester city centre this weekend.
Expect massive queues and lots turning up wearing the increasingly recognisable starry logo.
Already a much-loved brand not just here in 0161 but across the nation at large, the native independent business turned street-style favourites and UK fashion phenomenon are no strangers to HUGE pop-ups in their hometown.
However, they’ve never had a mainstay location anywhere in the country, let alone Greater Manchester – well, until now, that is…
Credit: Press shots (supplied)
Debuting in the Northern Quarter this Sunday, the venue located on Tib Street will effectively serve as Drama Call‘s new HQ.
The local label has done everything from popping up vans with Manc rapper Aitch to collaborating with Man United for multiple limited edition collections, so it only felt like a matter of time before they’d make a big brick-and-mortar splash in our fair city.
Most notably, they’re also taking over the same unit as the Sheep Shop, a former skate shop and legendary urban clothing tastemaker of the 90s; they were one of the first places in Britain to stock famous names like Stüssy, Supreme, Carhartt, The North Face and many more.
With that in mind, it feels only fitting that they carry on the trendsetting tradition from the same premises, and just spitting distance from the likes of Note, as well.
And that’s not all, either: before the full launch, they’ll also be holding an exclusive cash-only shirt swap event, where a limited number of certain collector’s items will be sold for as little as £10.
Other things to note are the additions of signed vinyls by homegrown artists such as the aforementioned Aitch and even The Smiths.
In fact, the store will also feature strictly Mancunian exclusives, too.
Everything from polo shirts and tees to branded mugs, matchboxes and other accessories will be available in-store only.
NQ is bound to be buzzing across launch weekend, with doors officially opening to the public on Sunday, and we wouldn’t be surprised if you see people camping outside the front well ahead of time.
What a moment the Manc shopping scene is having right now.
Featured Images — Publicity pictures (supplied via Pear)
News
Andy Burnham explains why Number 10 North is so important as it officially ‘opens for business’
Emily Sergeant
Andy Burnham has explained his key reasons for launching Number 10 North as it officially ‘opens for business’ this week.
You may remember that earlier last month, Andy Burnham revealed he had intentions to create a Number 10 North if he was to become Prime Minister, with the new base expected to be a ‘dominant driver of the UK’s economy’ once it was officially up and running… and now, fast forward to today, Number 10 North is officially ‘open for business’.
Operating from Heron House in Manchester city centre, as previously reported on, Number 10 North will be the Government’s new ‘situation room for growth’.
It also brings the ‘levers’ of local economic growth and devolution together under one roof for the first time ever.
Number 10 North has officially ‘opened for business’ / Credit: gov.uk (via Wikimedia Commons)
With the Prime Minister expected to work from Number 10 North each week, so that decisions about the country’s economic future will no longer exclusively be made in Westminster, and with other ministers also working from there on a regular basis, the Government says the move underlines its determination to ‘do things differently’.
Now that Number 10 North has officially opened, Andy Burnham and his fellow ministers have explained why this move is so important for not just Manchester, but the north as a whole.
“For 40 years, power and resources have been sucked into the centre, and too many communities have felt forgotten, without the attention and investment they deserve,” explained Andy Burnham.
“Number 10 North will change that by putting more power into every postcode across the entire country. It will be the situation room for making Britain better, the place we use to get power out of Westminster, into the hands of people at a local level, so that they can turn things around.
“The days of Whitehall resisting devolution are over, for good.”
First Secretary Louise Haigh added: “Today marks a fundamental re-balancing of where power sits in our country. Number 10 North has been set up to drive economic growth in every postcode and put power in the hands of every community.
Georgina Pellant -
22nd July 2022 
